The gender, energy and climate connection
Gender equality, energy access, and climate action are deeply connected. Addressing them together can lead to multiple development gains, including poverty reduction, improved health and education, food security, clean water and sanitation, and climate protection.
Why energy access is so important
Globally, more than 670 million people lack access to electricity, and around 2.3 billion rely on traditional, highly pollutant cooking fuels like firewood, charcoal and kerosene. A lack of clean, reliable energy is one of the biggest barriers to improving people’s livelihoods and eradicating systemic poverty. Here are some of the key ways a reliable, clean source of energy can support women and their communities:
Energy for fulfilling basic needs
When people have a reliable, clean energy source, they can fulfill basic needs, such as cooking in a clean environment, refrigerating food and medicines, pumping clean water, accessing information and technologies, working or studying after daylight hours.
Energy for increased safety
The presence of electricity (for lighting) helps to make outdoor public spaces safer and can increase women’s mobility after dark. Electrification in homes can increase access to information through radios and televisions, which can help to change social norms and perceptions of gender roles and educate women about their legal rights, potentially reducing household violence.
Energy for powering small businesses
Small and micro businesses, which are often key drivers of economic empowerment, need reliable energy sources to operate.
Energy for powering essential community services
On a community level, health centers need a constant, reliable energy source to operate and deliver care to the community; schools and education centers need power to improve access to learning resources and deliver a better quality of education
How lack of energy access affects women
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by a lack of clean energy across a wide range of areas, mainly due to gender norms and traditions.
More time spent on manual tasks
Women spend three times more time on unpaid care and domestic work, including cooking and fuel collection, which exposes them to health risks, and reduces their available time for working, studying or leisure.
Greater exposure to indoor air pollution
Cooking on traditional stoves with common fuels such as firewood, charcoal and kerosene greatly increases the risk of respiratory illnesses due to indoor air pollution.
Polluting forms of cooking drive climate change which disproportionately affects women
The UN estimates that in a worst-case climate path scenario, by 2050, climate change will push as many as 160 million more women and girls into poverty, with close to 240 million more women and girls experiencing hunger (compared to 131 million more men and boys).
Access to electricity and clean cooking solutions has been proven to improve women’s health, independence, economic status and future prospects. Learn more about how gender relates to energy in this short video with Magi Matinga, Technical Advisor at ENERGIA.
How gender imbalances affect women and the energy sector
The finance challenge for women entrepreneurs
On an individual level, women often face immense challenges in accessing the finance needed to start a business. This is due to a variety of reasons, including gender-biased credit scoring and gender stereotyping in investment evaluations; legal and regulatory constraints, including national restrictions on opening a bank account without a male family member, a lack of credit history or collateral or a lack of citizenship certificate or other formal identity documents.
Lack of financing for larger scale energy projects
Development finance for energy projects with gender equality objectives remains limited
Underrepresentation in energy jobs, programs and policy making
Despite their potential contribution, women remain under-represented in energy sector jobs and businesses. They are also underrepresented in local, regional and international decision-making processes and policy formation. This situation is compounded by their limited access to support networks, role models and champions, as well as the insufficiency of female-friendly company policies
Gender sensitive energy policies lack specificity
In recent years, several countries have started including a reference to gender issues in energy policies, but most do not go beyond just identifying women as a vulnerable group and they tend to simplify gender relations, agency and vulnerability, as well as the different needs of women and men. Furthermore, policies are often designed as “one size fits all” and very few demonstrate a serious commitment to addressing sector-specific gender inequalities.
Women’s needs frequently overlooked in climate action plans
A 2023 UN Women report revealed that only 55 national climate action plans make a specific reference to gender equality, and just 23 of those plans recognise women as agents of change in addressing the climate crisis. Disaster response planning tells a similar story, with a severe lack of perspective for women’s distinct needs.
At ENERGIA, we believe that to achieve universal energy access and reduce gender inequalities, it is crucial to apply a gender lens to energy programs and policies. This requires the full involvement of women – giving a platform to their diverse voices. It requires political commitment, investments, and the establishment of gender-responsive global and national energy sector policies to drive climate justice.
On an individual level, by supporting women to establish and grow their own clean energy businesses, ENERGIA and our partners can help address women’s empowerment.
Empowering women to drive the energy transition
We’re at a pivotal moment in history, with the global energy transition underway, towards cleaner, renewable energy sources. To achieve crucial climate goals, we need meaningful and equitable inclusion of women as energy users, producers, providers, innovators, and decision-makers. We need to leverage women’s strengths, including their roles as trusted advisors in communities, and we need to prioritize a diverse, gender-balanced workforce in the energy sector.
Women as energy entrepreneurs
As energy entrepreneurs, women are uniquely positioned to reach the last mile: women’s social networks and their role in household decision-making gives them unique insights to women consumers; they are effective spokespeople for-clean energy as users, and they can utilize women-to-women communication strategies.
Women as leaders and decision makers
As leaders and decision makers, women provide unique insights to drive gender-inclusive policy reform and climate action. Their needs often differ to men, and they must be empowered to lead in the transition for fair, equitable, and universal access to clean energy.
By working across our four impact areas, we can unlock women’s potential, contribute to broader socio-economic development, and accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more equitable energy future and greater climate resilience.
It is undeniable that women play a pivotal role in steering the energy transition towards a sustainable future across Africa. Their engagement transcends environmental preservation; it is a catalyst for fostering social and economic equity.
Her Excellency Rachel Ruto, the First Lady of Kenya, at the Africa Climate Summit 2023
Learn more about ENERGIA’s four impact areas here.